The central bank will maintain the current interest rate until theend of the year, provided there is no sudden change in the consumerprice index, according to the State Bank’s Monetary Policy Departmentchief, Nguyen Thi Hong.
In an interviewgranted to the Vietnam News Agency, Hong noted that the interest ratehas now returned to the level of 2005 and 2006, and below half of thelevel seen in mid-2011. He added that credit institutions might reducethe lending rate by 1-2 percent further still this year if conditionspermit.
Asked about concerns over a low creditgrowth so far this year - which means the goal of 12-14 percent for theyear may not be met - Hong said that as a rule, the need for creditusually grows quickly and more strongly in the second half of the year.She affirmed that banks have good liquidity and are working tofacilitate businesses’ access to loans by rescheduling outstanding debtsand establishing more links with enterprises.
At the same time, the State Bank will pump more refinancing capital tocredit programmes for housing, coffee re-planting and dealing with baddebts, according to Hong.
Discussing the latter issue, the SBV official said the bad debt rate ofthe entire banking system stood at 4.01 percent in April. She added thatCircular 09 recently issued by the SBV has created a legal corridor forbanks to better classify their bad debts, thus accelerating the processof banking restructuring and dealing with the problem.
She highlighted the positive developments in the monetary market overthe recent time, including the downward trend of the interest rate,stable exchange rates and an expanding foreign reserve, which hasrecently reached a record 35 billion USD.
Sheadded that these achievements prove that the SBV has taken the righttrack in its monetary policy, contributing to curbing inflation,stabilizing the macro-economy and supporting economic growth.-VNA
In an interviewgranted to the Vietnam News Agency, Hong noted that the interest ratehas now returned to the level of 2005 and 2006, and below half of thelevel seen in mid-2011. He added that credit institutions might reducethe lending rate by 1-2 percent further still this year if conditionspermit.
Asked about concerns over a low creditgrowth so far this year - which means the goal of 12-14 percent for theyear may not be met - Hong said that as a rule, the need for creditusually grows quickly and more strongly in the second half of the year.She affirmed that banks have good liquidity and are working tofacilitate businesses’ access to loans by rescheduling outstanding debtsand establishing more links with enterprises.
At the same time, the State Bank will pump more refinancing capital tocredit programmes for housing, coffee re-planting and dealing with baddebts, according to Hong.
Discussing the latter issue, the SBV official said the bad debt rate ofthe entire banking system stood at 4.01 percent in April. She added thatCircular 09 recently issued by the SBV has created a legal corridor forbanks to better classify their bad debts, thus accelerating the processof banking restructuring and dealing with the problem.
She highlighted the positive developments in the monetary market overthe recent time, including the downward trend of the interest rate,stable exchange rates and an expanding foreign reserve, which hasrecently reached a record 35 billion USD.
Sheadded that these achievements prove that the SBV has taken the righttrack in its monetary policy, contributing to curbing inflation,stabilizing the macro-economy and supporting economic growth.-VNA
